IBM Spotlight Session: Social Selling as a B2B Prospecting Tool
1. Social Selling as a
B-to-B Prospecting Tool
B-to-B Symposium
October 16, 2012
2. Your Presenters from IBM
Douglas Hannan Cheryl L. Mikovch
Business Unit Executive Sr. Marketing Manager
Inside Sales Marketing Inside Sales Marketing
IBM North America IBM Worldwide
@DouglasHannanUS @WhatSaidShe
www.linkedin.com/in/douglashannan www.linkedin.com/in/cmikovch
3. Social networks have fundamentally changed
the way clients buy
• Clients discover, read, share news
and content on their own and on
their terms
• Being “at work” is now a state of
mind and not a statement about
where you’re located.
• Clients are posting their needs,
concerns, ideas at any time of the
day or night….giving us the
opportunity to listen and respond.
• Clients benchmark best-in-class
experiences and share opinions
4. IBM’s Client Buyer Preference research
measured Social Trends
Over one-third have used social media to
Current Social
engage with their IT vendors.
Media use with
IT Vendor FACEBOOK 82%
LINKEDIN 52%
TWITTER 36%
NO YES
PODCASTS 15%
37%
63% STREAMING VIDEO 15%
6%
Those >50 yrs. old are much less likely to have used social media (15%)
Future Likelihood to use
36% 41% 23%
Social Media in
IT Purchase Process very likely not at all
somewhat
US Report
77% Source: IBM Marketing Insights Research 2011
5. IBM at a Glance
433K
employees
170
countries
Business Segments include Services, Software, Hardware, Research and Financing
7. Through inside sellers and the web we
provide end-to-end coverage for our clients
Lead Development Rep Inside Client Rep Inside Brand Sales
Specialist
Opportunity identification and Inside Client Reps Inside Brand Sales Reps
Lead progression focused, Product sales specialists
Relationship Coverage Reps
aligned Marketing Programs aligned by Brand and
aligned by territory or account.
Flexible resource with no Customer segment
specific accounts or territory Opportunity Identification
Transaction focused
55-60 Customer Calls per day 5 million calls per year
6 million calls per year
Online Commerce Sales
Online Commerce Consultants and Brand Specialists
Extend efficiency & reach leveraging on-line tools
Decrease expense/increase revenue through ease of ordering;
improve customer satisfaction; capture opportunity
8. IBM’s Challenge – Unlock the potential of Social Selling
Clients
-New ways to find and consume
Information
-Connect with Experts
-Interact on their terms
with trusted sources
a new Sales-Driven Marketing
Ecosystem has evolved
Marketing Sales
-Programmatic Approach -Add Personal Style
-Repeatable Process -Authenticity of Voice
-Professionally Crafted Message -Reach clients more easily
-Maintain Brand Image -Skills Transformation
9. Social selling required a change in behavior
with our Inside Sellers and a transformation of
the seller-client relationship
The Inside Seller of TODAY
must be professional, well
trained, high performing and
effective at using digital &
social selling capabilities
A multi-dimensional digital
relationship leveraging digital &
A two-dimensional
social selling capabilities and
phone- and email-
Online Commerce solutions
based relationship
10. Where we started: our strategy required a skills
transformation
Beginner Creator Collaborator Social Seller
Establish a web presence Create personal brand. Two way collaboration Relevant leadership
Be findable Listen to the conversation Uses chat and video Clients contact you
Easy to reach Send messages Adds value to Constant mind-share
Find new contacts Understand customer networks using Engaged earlier than
trends and how IBM can microblogs, forums, competition
help solve problems and Social groups
11. Digital contact tools are integrated into the B2B sales
engagement model.
Digital Contact Tools IBM Rep Page / Web Presence
Text Chat
Video Contact Module
with Real-time
collaboration
Telephone
Email Rep Driven Content
Social Social Media and
Media video embedded
Marketing Content
Over 1000 sellers
use these tools
12. IBM Inside Sales capabilities are centered
around enabling the client
Digital Enable the client to engage
Sales how and when they want
Eminence
Online Commerce
Access to tools and people
Global procurement
Ease in contract and order
management
Intelligent Listening
Improved efficiency for clients Rep Page
Monitor and capture client Client Web Portal
intent from Social Networks
Influence and develop Client Name
Digital Sales Capabilities
Client Logo
preference for IBM
Response Management Content Mgt./
Publishing Tools
Campaign execution and follow-up
Ability to understand issues and
match IBM products to client need
Territory Management
Sales Coverage for clients
Establish new contacts
Drive transaction volumes
Opportunity Management Drive revenue growth
New lead creation through
increased coverage and reach
Progress leads to wins Social networking
& Social Messages
Deep expertise in products and
solutions Personalized
eMail Campaigns
13. Participation in social networks improves
client access to experts
• Clients connect socially to tap into IBM expertise
• Industry SMEs contribute to professional network groups, blogs, publish
whitepapers, provide access to digital assets
• Inside Sales Reps promote content to their clients and reach new prospects
• Fostering social relationships yield new contacts, leads & sales – helping
reach new markets
“70% of a customer’s buying
decision is now made based on
Sales Reps
Prospects information he or she finds
online, well before a salesperson
has a chance to get involved.”
SMEs Source: Sales 2.0 Conference, 2011
Customers
14. Our Journey to launch an innovative social
selling program
Measure,
Socialize Our Track, Grow
Culture
Focus on
Content Participate in
Social
Conversations
Listening Identify
& Learning Influencers
15. Social Selling is Less About Tweeting…
and more about listening to what business issues individuals are talking about
Market Place Listening
Third Party Listening
Engagement Opportunities
16. Why is social listening important to sales?
Engagement
Third-Party Opportunities
Identify Industry
Influencers Follow competitors
Listen to what is being Follow prospects
said List to what is being
Identify trending topics said
Engage in many key LEADS Help shape
conversations
conversations
Establish credibility Real-time monitoring to
Build network intercept posts with
Improve Seller Findability expressed business
need
17. Keyword combinations and recommended groups
build social presence and enable sellers to mine
microblogs for engagement opportunities
LinkedIn
Groups
#Hashtag
LinkedIn
Groups
Communities
#Hashtag
18. 7-2-1 Rule guides seller social conversations,
builds creditability and drives leads
19. Content is our focus. Quickly consumable,
highly valuable
Shift in investment
from traditional tactics
to more digital
interactions
Progress from telling what
we have to offer, to
providing content to
engage
Evolve from static
presentations to
dynamic interactions
20. Content driven marketing is the force behind
customers initiating sales conversations…
Is your content socially ready?
FAQs
Whitepaper
Article
21. We’ve armed sellers with a social editorial calendar
• Calendar is maintained by marketing …executed by sellers
• Sellers are in complete control
– craft their own message
– retweet a message
– mention a post
– select from digital asset content
22. Socializing our culture is key to changing
behavior…
…and learning from peers is
essential to adoption
23. More than 200 Seller testimonials from around
the globe validate the power of social
“Connect with CIO via LinkedIn,
yielding $500K win”
“Linkedin to Rep Page
“Utilizing my LinkedIn visit to $150K result”
network! $1.8m result”
24. The Results…
Sellers in 170 countries effectively using social to extend reach,
build awareness and drive leads!
900+
7 Sellers
25. Case study: Connecting one of IBM’s public cloud offerings
and specific social activities to our leads and revenue
15%
26. Ask Yourself…
Doesyouyousales content have
Are Are capitalizing on the
Is your influencing
your social team
explosion a call-to-action?
and leading your clients?
socially connected?
of data social provides?